Change fatigue - it's a thing

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, "the only constant in life is change”, but not everyone got the memo.

Organisations today are far more likely to embrace innovation and continuous improvement than when my career began, and "stability" is a pejorative in certain circles. However, the cost of relentless change was brought home whilst implementing new technology a few years ago.

Change fatigue is a general sense of apathy or passive resignation towards organisational changes by individuals or teams (Argyris, 1978). It may be a perception of colleagues that too much change is taking place at one time within the organisation (Bernerth et al., 2011), and it is recognised medical condition (Cairns and Hotopf, 2005).

This form of fatigue is associated with any type of organisation change, including technology, restructuring, new ways of working and uncertainty. Change fatigue can be recognised, it does affect people and outcomes, and there are ways to control it.

Symptoms

Change fatigue may be experienced by delivery teams, colleagues or customers who are exposed to change. Symptoms in organisations typically include:

• There is apathy, aversion or strong objection towards new ideas.
• Strong, irrational challenges are presented to even good business cases.
• The force behind ideas and objectives has drained away.
• Soft benefits to initiatives cannot be realised.
• Colleagues show high preference for mundane, repetitive tasks.
• There is little interest in participation.
• Colleagues appear incapable of performing to expectations.
• Reduced job satisfaction, and even an increase in colleague turnover.
• In the worst cases there may be conditions, like physical fatigue and stress-related illness.

Causes

Change fatigue is not caused by the sheer volume of change! It tends to be cumulative, and results from a combination of factors:

• Quantity and type of work given to colleagues.
• Colleagues who are expected to adopt new work patterns, roles, skills and behaviours.
• Wasted effort in learning new work processes and skills.
• Inadequate support.
• Poor communication.
• Vague, weak benefits that colleagues or customers cannot relate to.
• Colleagues unable to control and align actions and objectives.
• Constant uncertainty.

Studies have found that education, gender and organisation size are predictors of change fatigue. Certain groups may be more susceptible than others, so a one-size fits-all solution may not be suitable.

Impact

Change fatigue may have a more profound impact on organisation initiatives than the garden varieties of apathy or disenchantment:

• Unsuccessful implementation of various change initiatives.
• Change initiatives are frequently unfocused and uninspired.
• People are unable to align their thoughts and actions.
• Display signs of being overwhelmed.
• Ability to adapt is depleted.
• Tasks are difficult to control and often take longer to complete for unforeseen reasons.
• Projects demonstrate greater uncertainty in duration, cost and quality of outcomes.
• Resource scheduling becomes difficult.
• Communication and training tend to be less effective.

Remedies

Innovation and the drivers of change are unlikely to abate, and prevention is obviously better than cure. Remedies to reduce change fatigue may be found in three areas:

• Design: Change for the sake of it will irritate most people, so begin by designing innovation to be more purposeful. Align it with the strategy and ethos of the organisation. Consider the needs of all stakeholders and solve real problems. Minimise complexity, particularly operational complexity. And try not to reinvent trusted components, there was probably a very good reason why something was designed the way it was - even if no-one remembers what that reason was.
• Communication: Communicate change as a defined event, with clear beginning and end. Describe the benefits clearly and transparently, and don't patronise. Engage colleagues throughout the change process, and genuinely listen for, consider and give credit for criticisms and suggestions. Finally, celebrate success and acknowledge everyone's contribution.
• Planning and execution: The aim here is to reduce the surprises and unnecessary disruption. Minimise uncertainty, unplanned changes, awkward issues, repeated mistakes, rush jobs and last-minute panic. Minimise disruption to normal working practices, particularly for those who have no choice but to accept the change. Minimise external pressure exerted directly on colleagues. Plan for training, with time to practice and assimilate skills. People may need leadership, so by all means demonstrate confidence and competence - without assertiveness.

Conclusion

Change fatigue is a thing. It manifests itself in various ways, and can have a serious impact in . Whilst we are eagerly embracing new ideas, pursuing the latest acronyms, or rearranging the deck chairs yet again, there are others who are dreading the turmoil this brings to their daily routine. Ramming through change may be an option, but any initiative will go a little better if due consideration is shown during design, communication, planning and execution.

Bibliography

This article was originally prepared in 2015, and there has been renewed interest in the topic recently. The bibliography therefore includes some additional literature.

Argyris (1978)?Organizational Learning: A theory of action perspective

Baker (2020) How to Reduce the Risk of Employee Change Fatigue, Gartner

Bernerth, Walker and Harris (2011) Change fatigue: Development and initial validation of a new measure

Brown (2017) The Relationship Among Change Fatigue, Resilience, and Job Satisfaction of Hospital Staff Nurses

Cairns and Hotopf (2005) A systematic review describing the prognosis of chronic fatigue syndrome

de Vries and de Vries (2021) Repetitive reorganizations, uncertainty and change fatigue

Lock (2019) 14 Symptoms of Change Fatigue

Perlman (2011) Change Fatigue: Taking Its Toll on Your Employees? Forbes